Rohit Sharma highlights positives and areas of concern for India

India battled fearlessly till the very end, led by the captain himself, Rohit Sharma in the second ODI of the series against Bangladesh. Despite copping an injury in the second over of the game while fielding, he came out to bat at the number nine position and stunned everyone with a bedazzling display of pyrotechnics where he almost ushered India to the finish line. Sadly, the Men in Blue would eventually fall short by 5 runs despite a stunning show by the skipper.

Rohit spoke at length in the post-match conference about a lot of topics that encompassed his injury update, highlighted the team’s condition and what were the takeaways for the Men in Blue from their series defeat against Bangladesh. Talking about his injury, Rohit said, “Honestly, the thumb is not too great. Some dislocation on the finger, but not a fracture, which is why I could come and bat.”

He highlighted India’s point of concerns, stating, “I think when you lose a game, there are positives and negatives... From 70 for 6 to allowing them to 270-odd was not a great effort from the bowlers. The middle overs and back end are hurting us - it hurt us in the first game as well. We need to focus on what we need to do as individuals but not taking anything away from Mehidy and Mahmudullah.”

He further added, “But we need to learn how to break partnerships and that's something that will hold you in good stead. In one-day cricket, it's all about partnerships like those guys did it. When you get 50, 70-run partnerships, you should make it a 100-120 partnership.”

Rohit also pointed out the learnings for the Men in Blue from their second consecutive defeat as he said, “Having said that, we have a lot of things to look at and we need to be a bit brave and take more chances. Few injury concerns and we need to get to the bottom of it; maybe they're playing too much cricket. It's something we have to sit down with our team at NCA and try and monitor their workload. Can't afford to have half-fit players representing India.”